Electric switch.



I. S. HICKMAN.

. ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.29v, IsIe. f

1,245,103. Patented?, Oct. 30, 1917.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

JOHNS. HICKMAN, or TITUsvILLE, FLORIDA.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Application filed December 29, 1916.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN S. HIGKMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Titusville, in the county of Brevard and State of Florida, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, ot which the following is a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to electric switches, and more especially to those wherein certain parts are movable longitudinally; and the object of the same is to produce a switch in which the'terminals are completely in- -closed in sockets within slidable bars of Vinsijilation material, the bars being moved by a pivotedlever which may also be used as a switch for another circuit, all as hereinafter described and claimed and as shown in the drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of this switch complete, partly broken away through a pair ol registering sockets.

lFig. 2 is a crossn section on about the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates base of stone, porcelain, glass, or other suitable insulating material, and wliereon all the mechanism of the switch is mounted as usual in devices of this character. Carried by and rising from this base are two pairs of springs 2 and 3 of double rightangular formation as best secr. in Fig. 2, one arm of said springs being secured flat on the face of the base and the other arm disposed above the same and projecting toward the corresponding arm of the opposite spring. Vithin the space or channel between the bodies of these springs is disposed a pair of bars 4c, 5 of insulating material, preferably fiber, which rest and slide upon the face of the base and are held beneathV the tips of said springs with their inner edges or faces in contact with each other so thatnthey may slide relatively. Transversely through these bars areformed holes or sockets, and in the present embodiment of my invention there is one such socket through the bar 4 and three through the bar 5, but this will depend upon the use to which the invention is to be put. By preference I insert a tube 6 within each socket, and this tube should be of g-ood insulating material, such as glass if the bars are of liber, although the bars may be made of glass or porcelain and in that case it is possible the tubes could be omitted. The tube when used forms a lining for the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

serial No. 139,637.

socket and well may be considered as the wall thereof. lVithin each socket is disposed a plunger 7 preferablv having at its inner end head 8 of globular formation, and a spring 9 bears this plunger inward so as to normally project its head beyond the inner face ot' the bar.

As the preferred use to which this switch may be put, I have shown wires connected with the plungers of the several sockets. The wire lettered I3 may well lead to the spark plug oit an internal combustion engine, and those lettered H, B and L lead respectively from the high tension circuit, the battery and coil or vibrator and the low tension circuit of the sparking system. It so, then when the heads ot the plungers stand in contact as in Fig. 1, there is a direct circuit trom the battery through the two contacting terminals and along the wire P to the plug, and the plungers connected with the wires Iii. and L are cut out of circuit. Thile any suitable mechanism may be employed for moving the bars, I prefer that next to be described.

The numeral 10 designates a switch lever pivoted at 11 ou the base and having an ebonite handle 12 at its free end, and in the present illustration the numeral 13 designates a T-head at the inner or pivoted end of the lever and fast thereon, each arm of the T being connected by a link 14 with one ot the bars as shown. When now the handle of the lever is moved from side to side, it will be clear that the T-head 13 thereof turns on the pivot 11 and one link 14- is drawn on while the other link 14 is pushed on, and the result is that the one bar 4i is moved to the left while the other bar 5 moved to the right, both bars sliding under the tips or the springs 2, 3. The base will be provided with a suitable guide over which the lere-r moves, and the guide or the base may be inscribed with words or signs to indicate which circuit is closed when the lever stands in any of its several possible positions. The extremities of each link are pivoted respectively to the T-head 13 and the end of one bar, but as the latter is of insulating material it is impossible for any current to get into the links and therefore into the handle. Overlying the said bar and underlying the tips of the springs I may use a cover plate 16 as best seen in Fig. 2, and if this is employed it will be clear that the globular heads 8 of the several plungers are fully inclosed and entirely surrounded by insulating material. Therefore if a spark should occur at the time a circuit is closed or broken, it is impossible for it to do any injury.

Another feature of my invention consists in employing the swinging lever itself for closing another circuit-perhaps a circuit which needs to be closed when the wire P is thrown respectively into communication or connection with the wires H, B or L. In the present illustration I have shown a ground wire G leading' to the pivotal point 11 of the handle or lever 10, another ground wire o o as leading from a point 17 at the midlength of the guide 1S, and another wire lg as leading from a point 19 at one end of said guide. W'hen the device is used on the circuit above suggested, the wire Gr will be the main ground wire, the wire bg will be the ground wire for the battery, and the wire lg will be the ground wire for the low tension circuit. It will be obvious that when the lever stands at the midlength of the guide 18 and the plug wire I is connected with the battery wire B, the battery ground wire bg will be connected through the lever 10 with the main ground wire Gr and the circuit will be complete. The same is true when the plug wire is connected with the low tension wire L, its ground circuit being closed at that time. Attention is invited to the fact that this closing of the circuit or wires connected with the lever, its pivot, and its guide, is entirely separate from the closing of the circuit brought about by the longitudinal reciprocation of the bars 4L and 5, and quite remote therefrom. As a result, the wires I), H, B and L may be connected up in such manner that they carry a heavy or perhaps dangerous circuit whereas the other and less protected wiresV which are near the hands of the operator may be connected up to a lighter circuit. However, as the wiring forms no part of the present invention I abstain from giving further eX- amples. lhile the wires are shown diagrammatically herein as overlying the base l, it will be clear that, as usual in switches, the wires are thoroughly insulated and are laid in grooves on the under side of the base and led up through holes in it to their terminals, while the base-plate is mounted on a suitable support in a manner not necessary to bring out in detail. The handle 12 may terminals mounted in said sockets and each having a ball at its inner end and its outer end Connected with one of the wires which the switch is to control, and means for longitudinally adjusting the bars simultaneously and oppositely with respect to each other.

2. In a switch, the combination with a, base, two sets of double-angle springs secured thereon with the free upper arms 0f one set of springs projecting toward those of the other, and a plate underlying said arms; of two bars of insulation material slidably mounted on the base between said springs and under said plate with their adjacent faces in contact with each other, terminals extending through said bars transversely and connected with the wires which the switch is to control, and means for longitudinally adjusting said bars simultaneously and oppositely, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a switch, the combination with a base, two sets of double-angle springs secured thereon with the free upper arms of one set of springs projecting toward those of the other, and a plate underlying said arms; of two bars of insulation material slidably mounted on the base between said springs and under said plate with their adjacent faces in contact with each other, terminals extending through said bars transversely and connected with the Wires which the switch is to control, a lever pivoted to said base, and links connecting said bars with points at opposite sides of the pivot of the lever, whereby movement of the latter will reciprocate the bars simultaneously and oppositely, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JOHN S. HICKMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

